Jamal informed AFP the hop in earnings stemmed from a 20 % increase in the amount of pilgrims weighed against last year. All of them contributes typically thousands to the kingdom's local economy, investing in food, lodging, souvenirs and gift ideas.
The upsurge in numbers is not a accident but instead area of the ambitious Eye-sight 2030 plan targeted at diversifying the Saudi current economic climate, that was dealt a significant blow after oil prices plummeted in 2014.
Relating to historian Luc Chantre, whose research targets hajj during colonial times, "even prior to the introduction of Islam, Mecca was a location for merchants".
"It was a location of international exchange, where faith and business were always associated," Chantre informed AFP. "Before finding of oil, the hajj was Saudi Arabia's major source of income."
Saudi Arabia -- the world's top crude oil exporter -- has released an idea to alter the kingdom's current economic climate from oil dependency toward other resources of revenue, including spiritual tourism.
The Eye-sight 2030 plan aspires to bring six million pilgrims to hajj on a yearly basis. Furthermore, the kingdom desires to appeal to 30 million pilgrims to umrah, a smaller pilgrimage that may be completed through the remaining year.
Years prior to the 2030 focuses on were revealed, work had been under way to extend the capacity to support as much pilgrims as it can be through the five-day hajj.
The past 10 years has seen cranes go above the fantastic Mosque for tasks including the extension of the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina, an underground metro lines and new floor coverings built throughout the Kaaba -- a dark masonry cube which pilgrims circumambulate through now-air conditioned or ventilated corridors.
The expansion jobs have been found with some criticism for distorting the old sites, sparking major protection concerns on the way.
In Sept 2015, a development crane crashed over pilgrims congregating at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, going out of more than 100 people deceased.
Later that month, the hajj found its worst ever before disaster whenever a deadly stampede along the way wiped out around 2,300 people.
The stampede drew fierce criticism, specifically from rival Iran which reported 464 of its individuals killed.
After refusing to send pilgrims in 2016, Iranian specialists say more than 86,000 with their nationals are engaging this year.
The upsurge in numbers is not a accident but instead area of the ambitious Eye-sight 2030 plan targeted at diversifying the Saudi current economic climate, that was dealt a significant blow after oil prices plummeted in 2014.
Relating to historian Luc Chantre, whose research targets hajj during colonial times, "even prior to the introduction of Islam, Mecca was a location for merchants".
"It was a location of international exchange, where faith and business were always associated," Chantre informed AFP. "Before finding of oil, the hajj was Saudi Arabia's major source of income."
Saudi Arabia -- the world's top crude oil exporter -- has released an idea to alter the kingdom's current economic climate from oil dependency toward other resources of revenue, including spiritual tourism.
The Eye-sight 2030 plan aspires to bring six million pilgrims to hajj on a yearly basis. Furthermore, the kingdom desires to appeal to 30 million pilgrims to umrah, a smaller pilgrimage that may be completed through the remaining year.
Years prior to the 2030 focuses on were revealed, work had been under way to extend the capacity to support as much pilgrims as it can be through the five-day hajj.
The past 10 years has seen cranes go above the fantastic Mosque for tasks including the extension of the holy mosques of Mecca and Medina, an underground metro lines and new floor coverings built throughout the Kaaba -- a dark masonry cube which pilgrims circumambulate through now-air conditioned or ventilated corridors.
The expansion jobs have been found with some criticism for distorting the old sites, sparking major protection concerns on the way.
In Sept 2015, a development crane crashed over pilgrims congregating at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, going out of more than 100 people deceased.
Later that month, the hajj found its worst ever before disaster whenever a deadly stampede along the way wiped out around 2,300 people.
The stampede drew fierce criticism, specifically from rival Iran which reported 464 of its individuals killed.
After refusing to send pilgrims in 2016, Iranian specialists say more than 86,000 with their nationals are engaging this year.
